Madison County Middle School is in a unique area, with the county’s industrial park bordering it, chicken houses on one side and on the other side, just across Hwy. 172, open hay fields.

Only the fields aren’t just being utilized for growing hay. It only takes a quick drive through the field to see numerous patches of cow dung that have apparently been left by a herd of “rogue” Black Angus cows, who authorities have so far been unable to get anyone to claim.

There have been numerous reports of these cows in the road along both Hwy. 172 at the middle school and along neighboring Brickyard Road for months now.

Madison County 9-1-1 reports show that there have been four accidents in just a recent two-week period (Oct. 26 through Nov. 6) on Hwy. 172 near or across from the middle school. This presents not only a nuisance but a significant public safety issue, according to animal control officer Erin Gray.

On Oct. 21, a man was injured and taken to the hospital after his motorcycle collided with a cow near the middle school about 8:15 p.m. according to 9-1-1.

As of press time, the true owner of the cows has not been proven, and Tuesday morning Magistrate Judge David Patton gave Gray the authority to begin seizing cows found on the roadside in those two areas and warned that when the owner is found they could face a warrant for their arrest on criminal charges. He also stated that they would owe compensation to several neighboring farmers where the cows have gotten into hay bales stored in the hay fields and caused other issues.

“We have got to do something in this particular situation before someone loses their life,” Patton said, adding that the case had mushroomed from a county citation for “livestock at large” into a “pretty large event.”

Patton said someone needs to be held accountable for the livestock.

According to 9-1-1 call history reports, there have been 11 “livestock in the roadway” reports form Sept. 7, 2015 to Nov. 12, 2016 on Hwy. 172 at the middle school.

And there have been 33 reports of cows in the road on Brickyard Road from March 9, 2015 to Oct. 23, 2016, according to 9-1-1.

A “livestock at large” citation against a man who formerly owned a farm on Brickyard Road was dismissed by Patton on Tuesday morning, with Patton citing lack of proof that the cow involved in a Sept. 3 incident was his since it bore no identifying information, and also that there are at least four other cattle farmers in the immediate area.

Gray told the court that animal control usually doesn’t handle livestock cases but that she was asked to get involved in this one by Comer Police Chief Dennis Bell whose department was fielding loose cow 9-1-1 calls from the Brickyard Road area, which is just outside of Comer’s city limits.

Gray said that someone also reported the problem to the Georgia Department of Agriculture in late October and she assisted their field officer in his investigation. She said the case was turned back over to her since she already had an open investigation to “see where it goes.”

She said ever since then she has been collecting 9-1-1 calls of cows getting out in those two areas and noted that many of the calls pre-date her hire as animal control officer in June.

The defendant told the court Tuesday morning that he had sold his farm over the summer and sold his cows after an earlier court appearance on Oct. 18. He said the new owner had been rounding up cows and calves since that time and estimated the original herd size at about 150 head. He provided the name of the owner, but said he has a restricted number and is not from this area. Gray told him she would need some sort of proof of the new owner so that she can talk with him about the case and he agreed to work with her to get this information so she can contact the new owner.

DEAD COWS ON PROPERTY

An open records request by The Journal to the Dept. of Agriculture showed that on Oct. 27, the day following the motorcycle accident, inspector Ronnie Hix met with Gray and others at Green Oaks Farm on Brickyard Road where they went to a pasture on the property and found cow carcasses and “a lot of bones.” Gray said it was estimated that there were about 20 dead cows in the pasture. They also found a deceased cow that had reportedly been hit by the motorcycle in the nearby unfenced hay field across from the middle school.

She said the DOA had also turned this investigation over to her since she had already had an open case for livestock at large in that area.

My compliments to the author of this article as there seems to be a lot of detail but I'm still confused. It leads me to believe that the man who had his citation dismissed, is the man who sold his farm and he is responsible? Is this the same man who owned Green Oaks Farm? There has to be proof that he sold his cattle and farm at the tax assessors office, a bill of sale or something... If he said he sold his farm to someone who doesn't live around here, couldn't he have made sure someone would take care of the cattle until the new owner could take responsibility ? No mention of cruelty charges for apparently starving 20 plus cows to death? I'm confused....

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